Victoria opens $25,000 Regional All Abilities Participation Grants, with football clubs already showing what the funding can build

Applications for the 2026-27 Regional All Abilities Participation Grants opened on 30 June and will run until 12 August, offering grassroots clubs and community organisations across regional Victoria up to $25,000 per category to expand participation opportunities for people with disability. The program sits within the state government’s $40 million All Abilities Sport Fund, and for football clubs weighing whether to apply, the case is already made by their own code. In the previous funding round, Football Victoria secured both Category 2 and Category 3 grants through this exact program, and used them to back its All Abilities project across Geelong and beyond.

What the three categories fund

The program is split into three funding streams, each capped at $25,000. Category 1: Equipment and Travel, covers the purchase of modified equipment, assistive technology, adaptive clothing and environmental aids, along with travel cost support for players, umpires, officials and support personnel. The second, Inclusion Workforce, funds the employment of specialised staff to support people with disability, and the recruitment, mentoring and retention of people with disability into paid or voluntary roles at the club. Category 3, Programs and Disability-led Initiatives, supports the delivery of an ongoing sport or active recreation program, with priority given to projects led by or involving people with disability in the planning itself.

Clubs can apply across more than one category if separate projects justify it, though each application requires its own project plan, budget and supporting quotes.

Why football is well placed to apply

Football’s disability pathway in Victoria has grown steadily since wheelchair football was introduced in 1996, and the state now runs programs spanning the All Abilities League, Athletes with Disability Futsal, Powerchair Football, and the Victorian Paralympic Football State Team Program. Football Victoria formalised this work further at the end of 2025 with the launch of its Disability Football Framework, aimed at replacing what had previously been ad hoc delivery with a consistent, statewide approach. FV All Abilities and Inclusion Programs Coordinator Selin Arpaci, who led the framework’s development, described the shift plainly.

“We’re no longer doing things just because they’ve always been done that way,” Arpaci said of the new framework.

That existing infrastructure matters for clubs considering an application, since funding bodies tend to favour projects built on demonstrated capability rather than a standing start. Regional clubs looking to launch or revive an All Abilities program can point to a statewide framework, a dedicated FV coordinator, and a code that has already converted this specific grant into results. When FV secured its 2024-25 round funding to relaunch programs in Geelong after several collapsed during COVID, Arpaci noted the demand was already there waiting to be met.

“It’s fantastic to see so many clubs across Victoria now offering All Abilities football,” Arpaci said at the time.

Who can apply, and what gets prioritised

Eligible applicants must be not-for-profit, non-government, and operating as a legal entity in Victoria, holding an ACN, Incorporated Association Number or Indigenous Corporation Number. The organisation must already be delivering sport, active recreation or physical activity programs, and the project itself must be delivered in one of Victoria’s 48 regional or rural council areas. Community clubs, associations and leagues are all eligible, alongside state sporting associations, regional sports assemblies, disability service providers and registered charities.

For 2026-27, funding priority sits with projects that are led by or actively involve people with disability in decision-making, projects that address intersectionality by reaching underrepresented groups such as women and girls, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, culturally and linguistically diverse participants, LGBTQIA+ people and older adults, and organisations based in areas of high socio-economic disadvantage. Clubs shaping their application should build these priorities into the project design itself rather than treating them as a checklist added afterward.

What the state government is backing this with

Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence framed the broader fund around workforce as much as participation when the previous round’s recipients were announced in February.

“We’re delighted to support more programs that open up more all-abilities opportunities for Victorians,” Spence said.

That framing is worth noting for clubs deciding which category to pursue. A project built solely around equipment purchases addresses access, but a project that also creates a coaching, volunteering or administrative pathway for someone with disability speaks directly to the language the government itself is using to describe the fund’s purpose.

Key dates and what’s needed to apply

Applications open 30 June 2026 and close 12 August 2026. Funded projects cannot begin before 26 August 2026, and quotes obtained for the budget may be dated from June 2026 onward. Outcomes are expected to be announced in October 2026, with funded projects required to be completed within 12 months of the grant being received. Every application needs a detailed project plan, an itemised budget and supporting quotes, and clubs planning to deliver ongoing programs to participants under 18 will need to hold Child Abuse Insurance to a minimum of $5 million per claim before funding is confirmed.

For clubs still deciding whether an application is worth the effort, Football Victoria’s own experience with this program answers the question directly. The funding has already helped rebuild collapsed programs, backed new coordinator roles, and supported partnerships between clubs and organisations like Leisure Networks and GenU. The infrastructure to succeed with this application, in other words, already exists within the code.

For further guidance on preparing your club’s next grant application, get in touch and sign your club up to the Football Pro Directory business platform here.